Self-lining handbag or the like

ABSTRACT

A self-lining receptacle such as a handbag or the like is provided which includes a pair of closure strips or tapes which are secured to opposite inner surfaces of the bag and which provide closure of the bag when pressed together. The bag is manufactured by folding a blank of material to which the strips have been secured, lengthwise along the longitudinal centerline thereof so the unfinished side is exposed. Adjacent edges at one end, and the side opposite the fold, are sewn together after which the folded blank is turned inside out through the open end. This end is then sewn closed and is inserted back into the pocket formed by the other end, one half being tucked into the other half so that the finished surface of this half forms a lining and that the strips are located on the lining opposite one another, adjacent the opening at the top produced by this step.

United States Patent 1 Morris SELF-LINING HANDBAG OR THE LIKE [76]inventor: Myrtle Ellen Morris, 8564 Freyman Dr., No. 110, Chevy Chase,Md. 20015 22 Filed: Mar. 8, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 232,789

[52] US. Cl 150/3, 150/1, 150/32' I [51] Int. Cl. B63d [58] Field ofSearch 150/1, 1.7, 3, 32,42; 229/62 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 361.619 4/1887 Cussen 150/1 735.560 8/1903 Muller 150/11.172.708 2/1916 Hoard '190/53 2.212.390 8/1940 Conklin ISO/1.7

2.530.746 11/1950 Wetherby ISO/.1

2.580.796 1/1952 Kleiss ct a] ISO/1.7 3.632.029 1/1972 Sonner 150/3 11]3,826,296 [451 July 30, 1974 Primary Examiner-William 1. Price AssistantExaminerStephen P. Garbe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Larson, Taylor & Hinds5 7 ABSTRACT A self-lining receptacle such as a handbag or the like isprovided which includes a pair of closure strips or tapes which aresecured to opposite inner surfaces of the bag and which provide closureof the bag when pressed together. The bag is manufactured by folding ablank of material to which the strips have been secured, lengthwisealong the longitudinal centerline thereof so the unfinished side isexposed. Adjacent edges at one end, and the side opposite the fold, aresewn together after which the folded blank is turned inside out throughthe open end. This end is then sewn closed and is inserted back into thepocket formed by the other end, one half being tucked into the otherhalf so that the finished surface of this half forms a lining and thatthe strips are located on the lining opposite one another. adjacent theopening at the top produced by this step.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SELF-LINING HANDBAG OR THE LIKE FIELD OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to handbags, pocketbooks, pursesand like article holding cases and receptacles and, more particularly,to an improved receptacle of this type and the method for making same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A number of different kinds of pocketbooks,handbags and like receptacles have found public acceptance. However,these receptacles, in general, share common disadvantages. For example,these receptacles are generally relatively difficult and costly tomanufacture because of the number of separate pieces required, thedifficulties encountered in assembly of the receptacle, the number ofsewing steps required, the expense associated with the closures, i.e.,zippers, snaps and the like, and so on. Further, the less expensivereceptacles are not lined and the raw seams are visible when thereceptacles are opened. Such receptacles are difficult to clean and inmany instances are heavy, stiff and bulky.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, thereis provided an improved receptacle, suitable for use as a purse, handbagor the like, and a method of making such a receptacle. The receptacle ofthe invention is relatively simple to manufacture as compared withsimilar commercially available receptacles and, as explained below, isprepared from a single blank which is sewn and folded to provide aself-lined bag. The seams produced in the sewing steps are not visibleand a simple closure, in the form of a pair of adhesive closure blankare sewn together as are the edges at the side opposite the fold. Thefolded blank is then turned inside out through the open, unsewn end sothat the finished side is exposed. The open end is then sewn closed toproduce an intermediate form of the receptacle. This end is insertedback into the pocket formed by the other end of this intermediate formor intermediate, one half of the intermediate being tucked or stuffeddown into the other half so that the finished surface of the one halfforms a lining and so that the closure strips lie opposite each otheradjacent the top opening of the bag so formed.

The receptacle of the invention has a number of uses other than as apurse, pocketbook or the like and, for example, can be used as a casefor eye glasses, a pipe case and the like. Other features and advantagesof the invention will be set forth in or apparent from the detaileddescription ofa preferred embodiment found hereinbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan'view of a basic blankfrom which is made a receptacle in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the blank of FIG. 1 illustrating, inter alia, afolding step and a first sewing step in the manufacture ofthe'receptacle of the invention;

FIG. 3 is plan view of the blank of FIG. 2 illustrating, inter alia, afurther sewing step;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing insertion of one endof thecompleted intermediate blank back into the other end thereof;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the completed receptacle, theintermediate blank of FIG. 3 being shown in dashed lines; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the completed receptacle illustratingthe manner in which the receptacle is opened.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As mentioned hereinabove, thereceptacle of the invention is not limited to use as a purse or handbagbut can be used for a number of other similar purposes. For example,among other uses, the receptacle can be used as a case for eye glasses,a pipe case, a cigarette case, a school bag, a pencil and/or pen holder.Hence, although in the specific embodiment discussed hereinbelow thereceptacle is referred to as a purse or handbag, and, more particularly,as a bag of the clutch purse type, this should not, of course, be takenas being limiting in any way.

Referring to FIG. 1, a basic blank of material from which a handbag inaccordance with the invention is made is denoted 10. The bag can be madeof vinyl, leather, cloth or any material that can be sewn and, as isillustrated in FIG. 1 the blank 10 is laid flat with the finished sideof the material, denoted 10a, facing up, the unfinished side, a cornerof which is shown in FIG. 1, being denoted 10b.

First and second closure strips or self-closing tapes l2 and 14 aresecured to the finished side 10a of blank 10 along a transverse linewhich lies adjacent to but spaced from a transverse fold line 16 whichdivides the blank into two halves. In a specific embodiment, using arectangular blank 15 inches long by l 1% inches wide, the closure stripsor tapes l2 'and 14 are 5 inches in length and are located approximatelyone-half inch from the center fold line 16.-The closure strips 12,14 areof conventional construction and can, for example, comprise a firststrip presenting a closely spaced series of semi-rigid hooked or barbedbristles and a second strip which presents a matte of fibres. Pressingof strips 12 and 14 together causes adhesion between the two which canbe broken simply by pulling or peeling the strips 12,14 apart. It willbe appreciated that the closure strips may take other forms and becausesuch strips are conventional further description thereof is deemedunnecessary.

After securing the strips 12 and 14 to blank 10, blank 10 is foldedalong the longitudinal center line thereof, denoted 18, so that theunfinished side 10b is exposed and hence strips 12 and 14 are inside ofthe folded blank as indicated. The longitudinal edges of the foldedblank 10 opposite the fold are sewed together as indicated at 20, as isthe end of the folded blank 10 furthest from the strips 12,14, asindicated at 22. Each of these dicated locations. The folded blank isthen turned inside out from the open end thereof so that the finishedside 10a is again exposed as shown in FIG. 3 to produce what might betermed an intermediate form of the purse. This intermediate form iscompleted by sewing the adjacent edges of the open end of the foldedblank 10 together as indicated at 24, preferably by turning these edgesunder about one-fourth inch and stitching the edges twice.

The completed intermediate form of the bag, whichis denoted 26, isconverted into the complete bag by inserting the end of the intermediate26 nearest the strips 12,14 back into the pocket formed by the otherend. This can best be understood by considering FIGS. 4 and 5. Asv shownin FIG. 5, one half of the intermediate 26 shown in dashed lines istucked down into the pocket formed by the other half so that strips 12and l4 lie opposite one another and the finished surface of the firsthalf forms a lining for that pocket. Thus, the

with inexpensive bags which are, in many instances, un-

' lined, and with more expensive bags which. are lined in bag of FIG. 5can be considered to be formed by an outer pocket, denoted 28, thefinished, outside surface of which forms the outside of the bag and aninner pocket, denoted 30, which is nested in outer pocket 28 and theinnermost finished surface of which forms the inner lining for the bag.As shown in FIG. 5, the strips 12 and 14 lie adjacent the opening at thetop of the bag produced when the first half is inserted into the other.FIG. 4 illustrates an intermediate step in this inserting process.

The completed purse which is shown in FIG. 6 and in solid lines in FIG.5 is closed merely by pressing strips 12 and 14 together and is opened,as shown in FIG. 6, by pulling or peeling the strips 12,14 apart. Thepurse or bag shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is of the clutch purse" type but bysuitable sizing of the purse and the addition of straps or the like manydifferent types of purses can be made. Further, as mentioned above,receptacles other than purses, handbags or pocketbooks can be made inaccordance with the invention. For example, a case for eye glasses canbe made simply by suitable sizing and selection of the material used.The ready closure provided by the closure strips prevents the glassesfrom falling out and provides a distinct advantage over conventionalcases.

As mentioned hereinabove the receptacle of the invention provides anumber of advantages as compared with conventional receptacles of thistype. For example, it will be readily apparent from the foregoing thatthe receptacle of the invention is very simple to manufacture especiallyas compared with prior art purses and the like. In particular, the factthat the intermediate stage is folded into a bag rather than sewn into abag from separate pieces, provides substantial savings in handling,assembling and the like. Further, the seams are not visible as is thecase with many inexpensive purses. In addition, the bag is self-liningas compared a manner which requires substantially more labor. The bag ofthe invention is easy to clean, lightweight, flexible and compact and issimple yet elegant in appearance. The use of closure strips which arehidden from view provides substantial advantages in cost, ease ofmanufacture and maintenance, as compared with zippers, snaps, buttons,drawstrings and other closure devices of the prior art.

It will be appreciated that the method steps outlined above need notnecessarily be performed in the sequence outlined although this sequenceis preferred. For example, the closure strips 12 and 14 can actually beadded at any time during the manufacture of the bag and, for example,can be added after all of the sewing steps. Further, the bag obviouslyneed not be rectangular and the inserted portion does not necessarilyhave to be substantially equal to the portion into which it is inserted,although this approach is preferable for obvious reasons. Othervariations and modifications in the exemplary embodiment described abovewill be apparent to those skilled in the art and it will be understoodthat such variations and modifications can be effected without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A one piece portable receptacle for articles comprising:

an outer pocket comprising a folded over section of a single blank ofmaterial and internal stitching for joining together the lower adjacentedges of the folded, over section of material and for joining togetherthe adjacent edges of the sides'of the section of material lyingopposite the fold, so as to form the pocket,

an inner pocket within said outer pocket comprising an extension of saidfolded over section of said blank of material inserted into said outerpocket, internal stitching for joining together the edges of the sidesof thesection of material lying opposite the fold and external stitchingfor joining together the lower adjacent edges of the folded oversection,

is rectangular in shape.

1. A one piece portable receptacle for articles comprising: an outer pocket comprising a folded over section of a single blank of material and internal stitching for joining together the lower adjacent edges of the folded over section of material and for joining together the adjacent edges of the sides of the section of material lying opposite the fold, so as to form the pocket, an inner pocket within said outer pocket comprising an extension of said folded over section of said blank of material inserted into said outer pocket, internal stitching for joining together the edges of the sides of the section of material lying opposite the fold and external stitching for joining together the lower adjacent edges of the folded over section, and closure means comprising first and second closure strips secured to the opposite sides of the inner pocket adjacent the top thereof for closing off said inner pocket when pressed together, said closure strips being separable by peeling said strips apart to provide opening of the receptacle, said blank of material having a finished surface and an unfinished surface, and the exposed outer and inner surfaces of the bag being formed by the finished surfaces of said blank of material.
 2. A receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein sid bag is rectangular in shape. 